


it's just medicine

by sharoncarters



Category: Morning Glories
Genre: 5 Times, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-25
Updated: 2014-07-25
Packaged: 2018-02-10 07:50:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2016888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharoncarters/pseuds/sharoncarters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five lives Casey and Hunter did not live, and one they're living now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	it's just medicine

**Author's Note:**

> okay so basically this started out as a way for me to write a casey/hunter divergent au and then the rest happened. let's face it though ike is totally eric and hunter is very bad at dealing with girls just like four (surprisingly) is and jade and casey are christina and tris. just go with it

1.

Danielle Clarkson is not selfless. She watches her parents every day: helping the Factionless, giving up their seats on the bus, cooking their bland Abnegation food, and realizes it more and more. She does not belong in Abnegation. She never has. 

It is, however, a surprise to her that during her aptitude test, she winds up having a proficiency  for not one other faction, but _three_. Erudite, Dauntless, and Candor. The woman administering her test is a tall - if not slightly scary looking - Dauntless, with long black hair and tattoos up and down her arms. 

Her name is Zoe. 

Zoe grabs her arm immediately after the test is over, and whispers harshly, “were you aware during the simulation?” 

Danielle doesn’t understand. 

“What do you mean? Was I not supposed to be?”

Zoe looks dissatisfied with her answer. Her eyebrows are knit together, and she seems extremely worried, for lack of a word. 

“This is what I was afraid of. Listen to me: you are something they call divergent. Your results displayed an aptitude for three different factions, _and_ you were aware during the simulation, something not many other people can do. It’s dangerous. They’ll be looking for you. I can delete your results, but you can’t tell anyone. Understand?”

Zoe’s hand is gripping her arm so tight that Danielle feels her pulse starting to throb there. Her heart is racing; she’d always known she was different. But the way Zoe talks about being divergent sounds _dangerous_. What does she mean, people are looking for her? What people? 

What could possibly be so amazing about knowing she’s in a simulation? 

Zoe’s still talking, Danielle realizes. Her cheeks flush. She’s always been told to listen when other spoke, because everyone was more important than she was. “It’s the selfless thing to do,” her mother had always told her. 

“Your results were textbook Abnegation,” Zoe is telling her now. “That’s what you’ll say if it’s absolutely necessary to tell anyone. I sent you home early because you got sick. Now go, before someone realizes anything is wrong.” 

Danielle hurries home, her head spinning. Divergent, divergent, divergent. It’s like a chant that her mind won’t stop screaming at her. 

What is she going to do? She knew she wasn’t Abnegation, but she had been relying on the test to tell her where she belonged. Would she be safe in Erudite? She’d always been smart - she liked numbers. Physics was easy for her, and she had learned to read before she’d even started school - the one selfish thing her parents had ever done for her, teaching her to read before anyone else in her class. 

She knew what the Candor initiation was like. They’d ask her all of her secrets; everything that she had ever kept to herself, every selfish, cruel thought she had ever had, could all be on display. She’d have to completely bare her soul to go there. 

Dauntless was dangerous. She’d seen them, the Dauntless - running around, climbing up buildings, jumping off trains. But there was also a sort of freedom there. Something unrestrained; wild, but _happy_. 

She’d made her choice.

* * *

 

Her parents didn’t ask questions about her story. She was sick, she went home, her test was fine. How very _Abnegation_ of them, refusing to ask questions that were stuck in their throats, for fear of sounding selfish, wanting to know things. 

Her brother David is still too young to really care about any of this. At 10 years old, he’s too busy trying to be the perfect Abnegation child. Still, he hugs her before bed anyway. Amongst the Abnegation, who shun physical contact, this is almost unheard of. 

She welcomes the hug anyway. 

“I’ll miss you,” he tells her, and she wonders how a 10 year old had her figured out before she had even figured out herself. 

 

* * *

 

Her mother cuts her hair the morning of the choosing ceremony, and she catches a rare glimpse of herself in the mirror. She’s not ugly, she thinks, studying her features in the mirror. She still doesn’t understand why mirrors are such a taboo, but she keeps her mouth shut. She’ll never have to see this place again, in a few hours. 

Still, the thought sends a rush of pain through her. She’s always had too much love inside of her, at least by Abnegation standards. Her parents were always having to stop her from showing her affection, physical or otherwise. Still, she hugs her mother tightly, and for once it’s returned. 

“I love you so much, mom,” she says, and wishes it didn’t sound so much like a goodbye. 

“I love you too, sweetheart, more than you could ever know.”

 

* * *

The ceremony seems to pass quicker than she could take in a few breaths to steady herself. Before she knows it, her name is being called. 

She walks up to the podium and picks up the knife. Divergent, divergent, divergent, her brain thinks, the words echoing in time with the beats of her heart. 

She cuts herself without feeling it, and moves her hand towards the bowl of burning coals. The roar from the Dauntless drowns out her mind, and for a moment she is frozen. She wills her feet to move toward them. Her new family. 

She spares a glance to her family - her old family, her mother and father and brother. None of them look particularly surprised. 

_I am selfish_ , she thinks. _And now I will be brave too._

* * *

 

Danielle meets a girl on the train, a Candor. She has beautiful red hair, and is surprisingly soft-spoken, considering the faction that she’s from. ( _That’s probably why she transferred_ , her mind tells her.) Still, Dauntless doesn’t seem like any sort of safe haven. 

They jump out of the train together, holding hands. It is surprisingly reassuring, despite the fact that she’s still getting used to this brand new freedom, being able to touch whoever she wants to. 

The man talking to them seems like an asshole, if she’s being honest. He has a smirk that just screams _I know more than you_ and multiple piercings. He could be attractive, if she was into that sort of thing. She thinks his name might be Ike. 

“So?” Ike asks, “who volunteers?”

She realizes that he’s pointing to the edge of the building. Of course he wants them to jump. What else is new? 

“I will.”

It’s her voice that speaks, somewhat against her own will. The Candor in her, probably.  

“A stiff?” Ike’s eyes shoot up, as if this is unheard of. “Well go on, then, show us what you got.”

She makes her way towards the edge of the building. It can’t possibly be that bad, if they do it all the time. Surely they don’t want all of the initiates to die within the first 20 minutes, do they? Unless they didn’t think someone would actually be dumb enough to actually volunteer to _jump off a building_. 

She doesn’t care, and jumps away. Seconds later, she lands on a net, her heart in her throat. She feels warm hands on her waist, helping her up. 

Her eyes feel blurry, but they focus on a shock of red hair, standing in front of her. It’s a boy. (A man, really.)

“What’s your name?” he asks, his warm eyes focusing on her. 

“D-“ for a second, her brain stops. She can be remade here. She doesn’t have to be Danielle Clarkson anymore, the scrawny girl not selfless enough to fit in. She can be whoever she wants to be. 

“Casey,” she blurts, unable to think of anything else. She’d always liked that name, anyway. He smiles, as if he knows what she’s done. 

“Casey,” he yells, announcing her feat to everyone, “first jumper!”

“I’m Hunter,” he says. “Welcome to Dauntless.”

 

2. 

She makes her way to Hunter’s house after school, like she always does when she’s pissed off. Or in any mood, really. They’re best friends. She practically lives in his house, she’s there more often than her own. 

Casey doesn’t even bother knocking on the door, fishing out a key from her pocket. (Hunter had had it made for her when they were kids. “This way you can come see me whenever you want,” he’d said, starting up at her with those brilliant green eyes, with way too much purpose and sincerity for a boy of only 8.) 

He’d had chubbier cheeks back then, she remembers. They were cute. 

She finally gets the door open, stomping her way up to his room. She didn’t call beforehand, she’d just known he’d be there. (He was always there when she needed him.) 

She slams his door open with such ferocity that he jumps, tumbling off his bed in the process. Idiot. Still, it was somewhat endearing, in that Hunter way of his. 

She throws her bag on the floor and collapses on his bed, head first. She can still hear his breathing, heavy from being scared, as he settles back on the bed next to her. His hand finds her hair, stroking it in a way that always makes her calmer. 

“Was it Isabel again?” he asks. But honestly, who the fuck else could it be? 

“Yes it was fucking Isabel,” she grumbles against his bedspread. It smells fresh, like lilacs. Bless you Mama Hunter. “She literally won’t leave me alone and I can’t fucking take it anymore.” 

“You know she’s just jealous, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s what you always say. You’d think this was the fucking Medieval times and I’d wronged her mother or something, with the way she stalks me. It’s not normal, H, it really isn’t.” 

“Well, I mean, you are very good stalking material,” he jokes, his hand still in her hair. 

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” she retorts, her words still muffled by the bed. 

“Maybe.”

She can feel him shrugging. Ugh, nerd. She loves him. 

“Maybe if you just stop letting her get to you she’ll leave you alone,” Hunter suggests, like he’s had a million times before, to no avail. 

She gets up and looks at him, and his cheeks turn pink. 

“You know what? Sure. Nothing else I’ve been doing has worked anyway, so I’ll trust you on this one. Now lets go order some pizza or something, I’m _starving_.”

 

* * *

“So, uh, are you planning on going to the dance next weekend?” They’re on the phone, but she can practically _see_ him rubbing his neck with one arm, his phone balanced between his neck and shoulder. She just knows him like that. 

“I mean I don’t really see a point in going,” Casey answers, chewing on her pencil. She’s trying to solve a particularly difficult physics problem. “No one asked me.”

She’s not really a girl to care about dating and boys, and yes, she’s independent and wants to stomp on the faces of all men when she listens to Little Mix, but she’s still a teenage girl. She has needs. 

“We could…um, you know, go. Together.” 

“To the dance?” Casey asks, distracted. 

“Yeah. Like a date. I mean…like, if you want to. No pressure.” He’s trying to keep his voice light, but she hears the strain in it. He’s _serious_. 

She thinks about it for a minute. This is Hunter. Hunter, her best friend. Hunter, who had his mom make her a key to their house. Hunter, who eats pizza with a fork and plays Dungeons and Dragons and makes her laugh and gives her advice. Hunter, who’s always there for her.  

“Yeah,” she finds herself saying, voice a little more breathless than she’d wanted it to be. “Yeah, let’s go. Together. As a date.”

 

* * *

Casey has to keep reminding herself that it’s just _Hunter_. She’s seen him shirtless a million times before. _But never like this_ , she tells herself. Never after a date, never when she wanted him, never when her stomach was clenching in the most amazing way, never when she was kissing him. 

She was kissing him. Her best friend. She was kissing her best friend and he was shirtless and she was _enjoying_ it. 

His hands reach up and tangle in her hair, and she moans. Like actually, forreal, breathlessly _moans_. Who _is_ she?   

But his lips find their way to her neck and she realizes she doesn’t care. She loves Hunter, and she especially loves what he’s doing right now, and so what if this is the most stereotypical thing ever, making out with her best friend after their first date? 

She loves him, she realizes. How had she been so blind?

 

3.

Zoe, Queen of Scots, is not the nicest girl to be around. She’s loud, abrasive, and is used to always getting her way. Still, she cares more deeply for her friends than anyone could ever know.  

After years of friendship, Lady Casey knows this. She knows how Zoe saved Jade from going through a horrible marriage, how she almost wept when she thought she lost her dog, how deeply and truly she loves her husband. 

Zoe’s kept many secrets for them, including Casey’s very own. 

 

* * *

She knows it’s bad. Completely wrong; against everything she’s worked her whole life for. And yet, day after day, she finds herself sneaking down to the kitchens to see Hunter. 

She hates herself for it, and yet can’t bring herself to stop. 

Her heart seems to beat louder with each step she takes. She knows the route like the back of her hand now - down the stairs, around the corner, make sure no one’s looking or following, down the servants’ stairs - and he knows exactly when she’ll be there each day. 

Warm arms covered in flour wrap around her from behind and she lets out a squeak of surprise. He always manages to do that- _surprise her_ \- in a way that no one ever has before. 

She knows her duty. Get married to a nice rich man, provide for her sisters, bring her family out of debt. And yet, with each time she visits Hunter in the kitchens, her heart weighs heavier and heavier with the burden for her so-called “duty”. 

“What are you thinking about?” he asks, his breath warm in her ear. She can’t believe how amazingly _warm_ he always is, such a sharp contrast to the cold, lifeless feeling of court. She loves Zoe, and she loves her friends, but Queen Georgina and the King never fail to unnerve her. 

They’re so _unfeeling_ all the time, Casey wonders how they manage to function. The amount of times the Queen had tried to take Zoe’s life away from her was exceedingly high, and never failed to amaze Casey. 

She breaks her mind out of its thoughts long enough to answer him. 

“Just how much I love you,” she manages to quip, and feels his laughter against her back. She turns around to face him, and his smile almost blinds her. She loves that, how he never fails to be unflinchingly optimistic in the face of…well, everything they have to face. 

There’s flour on his cheek - then again, when is there not flour on any part of him? It’s like he smears it all over himself because he knows how endearing she finds it - and his green eyes are alight with joy.  

“No you’re not,” he says, suddenly serious. “You’re thinking about your family again, aren’t you?”He doesn’t sound angry, just resigned. How she wishes _he_ could be the one to provide for her. She doesn’t want anyone else, can’t be with anyone else.  

The little time they have together suddenly strikes her, and she leaps up to kiss him. It’s sudden and unexpected and rougher than he’s used to, but he wraps his arms around her anyway. He knows just as well as she that their time together is limited. He was lucky to meet such a beautiful, wonderful, smart, kind, _amazing_ woman, but he knows it won’t last. He’s just a measly kitchen boy. 

 

* * *

 

Lady Casey is marrying Lord Reed tomorrow morning. She can hardly believe it, considering everything that she’s done to ruin her reputation. She’d thought for sure that he’d dispose of her when he caught her with Hunter, but he was surprisingly understanding.  

He’s always been that way, she realizes. Providing dowries for each of her sisters, talking her father down, making sure that her future was secure. Being his wife won’t be that hard. She could’ve ended up with any different number of men much less kind and forgiving than he.  

A sharp knock on her door startles her out of her thoughts, and she gets up to answer it.  

His hand is poised to knock again when she opens the door, and the second he sees her he wraps his arms around her. 

She only catches a flash of red hair before a pair of warm, soft lips are against hers. She can’t _breathe_. Hunter is alive. He’s alive and he came back to her and he’s kissing her and he’s here and he’s _alive_. 

Too late she realizes that she’s getting married in the morning. She pushes him away, painful as it is to do so. 

“Hunter,” she breathes against his cheek. “We can’t.”  

“No, listen,” he’s just as breathless, panting, his words coming out quick, “I saved him. The Prince. Zoe’s husband. I saved his life. He says he owes me. Look.” He shoves papers into her hands, and she only now realizes that he’d been clutching them in his fist against her back the entire time. 

She looks at the papers clutched in his hands, knows what he thinks this means. 

But she knows it's not enough. The debts of her family, her sisters' futures, none of that can be solved with a few acres of land and the small amount of money that was promised to him by the Dauphin. 

"I'm getting married tomorrow, Hunter. I can't..." her voice cracks, she doesn’t know what to say. She can't _what_? Imagine a life without him? Want to imagine a life without him? _Breathe_?

He's studying her, his smile slipping away slowly but surely. 

"Yes you can," he urges, gripping her arms, almost a little too tightly. "We can be together now, can't you see? Don't you still love me?"

"I do," Casey realizes then that she's crying. Her chest is heaving with sobs barely held in. "I love you more than I've ever loved anyone."

"Then what's the problem?" She can't stand to look at him, in his military uniform, his beautiful red hair that she knows all too well, his eyes that she's stared into so long that she now knows better than her own.

"Lord Reed is a good man. He's helping my family so much. He’s done so much for me already, despite my indiscretions. It's already done, _please_ Hunter, please understand this. It's not enough." 

His eyes are red and brimming with tears as he looks at her. "When you are alone and miserable, remember this as the moment you threw your happiness away," he says at last, making his way towards the door.

It slams, and Casey is left with her tears and her broken heart, staring after him. She sinks to the floor and weeps.

 

4.

Casey has no idea how she got this job, like, seriously. Absolutely no idea. She knows Ms. Clarkson wrote her an awesome rec letter, but surely that couldn't have been enough? She's never worked a day in her life. And yet, here she is, on her way to an amusement park. 

The good thing is, Jade works here too. That's how she'd found out about the job. She just never thought she'd actually get it.

She pulls her car into the parking lot at exactly 7:00 am, 10 minutes before her shift starts.

It's odd, looking at an amusement park that's completely still. 

She used to come here all the time with her dad. Morning Glory Adventure. She's used to swarms of people, long lines, the smell of popcorn and the loud roars of roller coasters zooming by. 

It's a nice change, though. She could get used to it, this silence. 

 

* * *

She's not working a roller coaster to start, which is surprising but still a relief. She didn't know what she'd been thinking. Of course they wouldn't put her in charge of human lives at first, duh. 

She works a concession stand. It's not difficult at all, even though her boss, Georgina, is a total bitch. Oh, well. She's dealt with plenty of those in her lifetime (cough, Isabel, cough). 

Jade comes by on her break with another redhead that Casey vaguely recognizes from school. 

"Hey Case, this is my cousin, Hunter."

He opens his mouth to protest, but Jade slaps a hand over it. Casey raises her eyebrows and Jade laughs. 

"Okay, you got me."

Hunter looks completely confused. 

"It's a ginger joke, you dweeb," Jade tells him, and he makes a face like _ohhh_.

"How was you first day?" Jade asks her, and Casey makes a face.

"That bad, huh?"

"Well, I mean, it wasn't completely awful. Manager sucks, but at least the job's easy."  

"Well that's not too bad. Anyway, I wanted to come tell you that you're invited to the party tonight. It's a thing we do every summer, all the workers, after the park closes. Illegal rides, booze, stuff like that. You up for it?"

Casey thinks for a second. It's not like she has anything better to do tonight. "Sure, why not."

Hunter looks elated, and asks her for a corn dog.

 

* * *

Alcohol and dangerous rides should never mix, Casey decides. They're at the tallest one in the park, simply called "Gribbs". She has no idea where the name came from, but it's sort of fitting. 

She's never been on it. It's a heights thing. 

A kid named Ike is operating it, and despite having downed, like, 30 shots, he still seems more sober than the rest of them. 

Jade's glaring at him, and Casey raises an eyebrow at her. 

"Want to tell me what that's about?"

"You just gestured to my entire face," Jade grumbles.

"Exactly, miss grumpy. Why are you glaring at Ike like he wronged your mother?"

"He's just a dick. It's whatever."

"Hmm."

At that moment, Hunter bounds up to them. 

"Hey, you guys gonna go on the ride?" 

Casey shakes her head adamantly. "Absolutely not." 

Jade shrugs. 

His cheeks are flushed, and Casey realizes just as he's getting in the front row and buckling himself in that he's probably drunk.  

Not the best idea. 

Still, Ike presses all the right buttons and the carts go zooming away, and a minute later Hunter's back and whooping and throwing his arms up. 

"God, I will never get tired of that," he breathes, coming back towards them. "Come on Casey, go on it. I'll go with you." 

"Maybe later."

"Please," he pleads, dragging the word out. "It's not that bad, I promise."

"Okay, okay, fine. Just not the front row, Jesus Christ."

"I prefer Hunter," he says with a grin, but grabs her hand anyway and drags her to a pair of seats.

Her heart slams against her chest. Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea, it's telling her. 

Still, she buckles herself in.

Hunter takes her hand again, and they're off. 

She's never screamed like that in her entire life.

 

* * *

 

The first time he kisses her, it's sloppy and during one of their breaks. He presses her up against the sign for slushies, hands hesitant but determined. 

He's warm, she thinks, but not unpleasantly so. 

Despite the lack of practice, it's a nice kiss. They both emerge from it grinning, cheeks red. 

She likes him a lot more than she probably should.

 

* * *

"I gotta show you something," Hunter says after he bounds over to her station. She's been promoted to one of the kiddie rides, a swing type of thing. Her shift's almost over.

His face is flushed from exertion; he probably ran all the way here from the other side of the park. 

"Come on," he insists, reaching for her arm, "it's not like anyone's going on this thing anyway."

He's right, of course. She hardly gets any riders, and the ones she does get usually come by earlier in the day. It's nearing midnight now.

"Okay," she agrees, "let me just shut this down." 

A few minutes later after she's locked up, Hunter takes her to a part of the park that she (surprisingly) has never been to before.

"It's been closed down for a while," he's explaining, his eyes wide and eager. "But a few of us - Jade, Ike, Jun, Zoe - got this one ride to work. It's completely safe, don't worry," he adds, seeing the look on her face. "Only we know how to work it."

He leads her to a dark, cave-like entrance, which does nothing to quell her fears. 

It's surprisingly light inside, however, as he leads her down the path. She hears a faint trickle of water somewhere in the distance.

"Oh," she breathes, when they finally get there. Hunter doesn't let go of her hand, which is actually kind of reassuring.

The ride is a pirate based one, with a ship waiting there for them to sit in. The decorations around them are beautiful, if not slightly worn. 

Hunter walks over to the controls to get it started, and hops into the boat. "Come on," he says with a grin, "get it before it leaves you."

She quickly makes her way into the boat next to him. 

The ride is slow but still exciting, and even more beautiful as they get deeper into it. 

She's aware of Hunter's eyes on her, like always. She likes the way he looks at her, like he's never seen anyone like her. Casey knows that she's really nothing special. She knows she's smart and decently pretty, but no one has ever looked at her quite like him.

She leans over and kisses him, deep and slow.

He looks like he's going to faint, which makes her giggle. She wonders if he'll ever stop being surprised when she does that.

"What was that for?" he asks, wide-eyed.

"Because I love you, nerd."

 

5.

“Casey,” her dad calls from down the hall, “wake up or you’ll be late!” She groans and buries her face deeper into her blankets. She could’ve sworn she had at least half an hour of sleep left. She fumbles for her phone, scrunching her face up as the light hits it. 

_Shit_. Her dad’s right, she is going to be late. She jumps off the bed, somehow managing to disentangle herself the covers. _Shit, shit, shit_. Casey runs to the bathroom and gets ready the quickest she’s ever done in her entire life. 

_Thank God I packed yesterday_ , she tells herself. She jumps and tugs her jeans up, grabbing her suitcase, then practically sprints down the stairs. 

“I’m good,” she pants, “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

“Your father’s in the car already,” her mom tells her. She leans in for a quick kiss on the cheek and hands Casey a piece of toast. “Good luck, sweetie, I know you’ll do great.”

“Thanks mom, bye mom, see you at Christmas!” 

 

* * *

After her plane lands and she has her suitcase back, she wanders around the airport until she finds a sign with her name on it. She walks toward the man, relieved.  

“Ms. Blevins?” he asks, and she nods. “Come with me.”

The man takes her out to a limo - yeah, a freaking _limo_ \- and gestures for her to get in. He takes her suitcase and opens the door for her. 

She tries to settle in, which, let’s face it, is amazingly easy, considering she’s currently living the life of luxury. If everyone going to her school gets their own limo, she can’t imagine what the actual school even looks like. 

That’s why she’s here, in the limo. Morning Glory Academy. She can’t even believe she’d gotten in, and yet here she is. Casey Blevins, in a limo, on her way to Morning Glory Academy. It’s surreal. 

“Excited?” the driver asks her when he’s back in the front seat. 

“Exceedingly.” 

 

* * *

She stays alert the entire way to the school, and nearly shits her pants when she actually sees it, excuse her language. 

“Holy crap,” Casey blurts as she gets out of the limo. “It’s amazing.”

“Glad you think so,” a voice sounds next to her. It makes Casey jump a little, but she relaxes when she sees who it is. Georgina Daramount is a lot taller in real life, Casey thinks, as she looks up at the woman. It’s way more impressive than seeing her on the school’s website. “We’re very excited to have you here, Ms. Blevins.”

“Oh, um, thank you. That means a lot, really.”

“It means a lot to us to have you here. You can find your schedule and room information from the front office, in that building over there,” she points straight ahead. “I hope you have a greatfirst day.”

 

* * *

Casey’s vision had been focused solely on the office in front of her, so she didn’t even notice the flash of red hair before it was too late.  

“Oof,” she grunts as she hits the ground, her papers flying in every direction. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” a male voice is saying, and she looks up and meets a pair of the greenest eyes she’s ever seen. “I wasn’t…” he trails off as they stare at each other, and if this isn’t the most fairy tale moment of her life, she doesn’t know what is. “…paying attention,” he finishes. 

Casey shakes her head, trying to clear her thoughts, and reaches for her scattered papers. “It’s okay. I guess I wasn’t either,” she says with a lame laugh that she hopes comes out cuter than it sounds.

He helps her gather up her papers and reaches out a hand to help her up. “I’m Hunter,” he says, and grins. 

“Casey.”

 

* * *

He’s late. Casey hasn’t been on many dates, but she knows the guy shouldn’t be late. That’s like a rule, right?

But just as she’s thinking it, he comes bounding down the hallway towards her. She breathes a sigh of relief. 

“Casey,” he pants, grabbing her hands, looking extremely messy (and, she hates to admit, super cute), “I’m so sorry. I was taking a nap and I overslept and _Ike_ ,” he growls his name like it’s a curse word, “didn’t even bother waking me up, despite the hundreds of times I told him how excited I was for this date and _exactly_ what time it was at-“

“Hunter,” she stops him with a laugh, “it’s fine. You’re like 3 minutes late. It’s okay. Let’s just go.”

“I love you, you know that?”

“Isn’t it a little early in our relationships for I-love-yous?”

“ _Shit_.”

 

* * *

They’re studying on Hunter’s bed when Ike storms in, looking extremely pissed off and red in the face. He slams the door behind him, ever the courteous one. 

“Should I even bother asking what’s wrong?” Casey asks Hunter, not even bothering to lower her voice. 

“I’m pretty sure the response would just be something like ‘my lady on the side refused to have sex with me so I ended it, nothing to worry about sweet cheeks,’” Hunter retorts, making her burst into giggles. 

“Good one,” Ike snaps, still completely furious. “You know I can hear everything you imbeciles say, right?”

“Wasn’t trying to keep my voice down,” Hunter says, at the same time that Casey chimes in, 

“Wow, imbeciles, big word. You must be super angry. You want to talk about it, or are you just gonna keep brooding and wallowing in your own misery?”

“I kissed Jade,” he blurts, and the couple on the bed is instantly alert. 

“No way?” Hunter asks. 

“Oh my god,” Casey squeals, “finally!”

“No, not ‘finally’,” Ike mumbles. “She pushed me away.”

Casey’s quiet for a minute while Hunter whispers something that sounds like “welcome to the club”. Casey hushes him and looks at Ike, who’s clearly more upset than she gave him credit for. He must really like Jade, for him to react like this. 

“Well, can you blame her? She knows what you’re like with girls. She’s just trying to protect herself.” 

“From STD’s,” Hunter says with a laugh, which earns him a smack on the arm. 

“Did you try telling her how you felt before attacking her, or did you go right for it?” Casey demands, feeling very scientific and in the moment. 

“I don’t know, maybe a little bit of both?”

Casey raises her eyebrows. 

“She was mad about something stupid, and she had this cute frown on her face, so I was like ‘What’s wrong?’ and she was like ‘What do you care?’ and I was like ‘I care more than you think’ and just sorta went for it.”

“Oh, _Ike_ ,” Casey breathes, shaking her head. “Come on,” she says, jumping off of Hunter’s bed. “We’re going to fix this.”

She presses her lips to Hunter’s cheek with a promise of “more later,” grabs Ike’s hand, and whisks them from the room. 

 

* * *

Her parents call on her birthday, and the phone call ends up being extremely emotional for her. She just really loves them. A lot. 

Hunter buys her the most amazing gift, and she swears she’s going to jump him just as soon as everyone leaves the room. 

Jade made her some jewelry, and her and Ike stand off to the side, completely engrossed in each other. Took them long enough. 

Even Zoe gives her a gift, which Casey’s almost too afraid to open. _Maybe later_ , she thinks. She looks around the room, unable to comprehend how she got so lucky. She has amazing friends, a great boyfriend, perfect parents. It’s like she’s living a dream. 

Hunter nudges her side, mouthing ‘cake?’. She nods, giving him a smile. She has the best life ever.  

 

+

He’s bleeding, not that that surprises her anymore. When are any of them not bleeding these days? 

 

He looks up at her, grinning despite the blood in his mouth, and she grabs his hand. 

 

_Please let us survive this_ , she prays to whoever is listening. They step towards the glowing cylinder, hand in hand. 

**Author's Note:**

> sorry that i'm all dialogue and no substance. i suck. i hope you liked this though. and anything you see that's directly taken from divergent or reign isn't mine, obviously. especially leith's one line, which never manages to not make me cry


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